Reference no: EM133493326
Assignment: Consumer Culture- Normcore
I. The first thing to ponder is the following question: Is this the next status system in the chain? If you think about all the phases of the dominant status systems it looks something like this:
Leisure ->Social class -> coolness (rebel cool) -> authenticity (and dot cool)
Is normcore the next thing? Some other questions are posed by this question. They include the following. Can we/will we give up of the pursuit of distinction & status?Would the spread of normcore, kill normcore? (by virtue of its definition). That leads to the next item.
II. Next, you will need top figure out exactly what it is.What is normcore? Linguistically, it's a Portmanteau. It's a combination of normal and hardcore. But, what does it represent? Begin by comparing what it meant in the document by K-Hole with how it came to be subsequently defined. Are the definitions the same or different? Hint: they are different.
III. Then, consider the evidence that it is true versus the evidence that it is false. In other words, what can you see that supports the existence of normcore and what can you see that undermines the arguments for its existence? Do you know people who are practicing it? Etc.
IV. Next, what class content (ideas and assertions form the lectures, readings and videos) can you use to make sense of all of this? Are there ideas from class content that would support the existence of normcore? Hint: Yes. Are there ideas from class content that would challenge the existence of normcore? Hint: Yes.
Some ideas that might be relevant. You will need to explain these connections.
One-downmanship. Is Normcore a variant of that? Similarly, countersignaling is the idea of making a statement by showing that you don't need to make a statement. Normcore might have an element of this floating around in it.
Fussell suggested that social anxiety surrounding status as a universal. Who else talked about that this quarter? What is normcore trying to do to status anxiety?
Heath and Potter suggested that coolness was rebellion against social class. Is normcore is rebellion against dressing like previous rebellions?
PLU: SCIA (the social class documentary). There are a lot of ideas there that could be used to make sense of normcore. What are those ideas? We love to judge. "Most likely to succeed" clip. Social anxiety resulting from status. "WASP Lessons" this has great potential for abstract essentialism. Can't teach it?
This video, most of the clips, referred to the tribal aspect. We consume to set ourselves apart from others whilst simultaneously claiming membership in a tribe of like and like-minded others. Is this part of the goal of Normcore? Consider some of the readings on normcore.
Seabrook. Inconspicuous consumption. Anti-status as status: NoBrow. K-hole wrote about "wearing something expensive that didn't look expensive," which ties into Sunday in Soho and the $200 T-Shirt. How? Explain the connection.
Veblenexplained: "Consumption is not just about fulfilling individual needs/desires, but also about communicating to others one's place in the social hierarchy." How does normcore relate to this?
V. What part did technology play in this? That is, what does technology have to do with social and fashion trends? A lot. Recall, just a few decades ago the friction in the transmission of culture was high and the emergence of new, cool trends was a slow and lengthy process. What did Andrew Potter ("Conspicuous authenticity") have to say about this? What changed and caused this change? Hint for the second half of that question: it begins with ‘inter' and ends with ‘net.'